Far away, so close: David Allan-Petale shares how travelling brought his new novel, Locust Summer, to life

Written while travelling the globe over five years, Locust Summer was shortlisted for the Australian/Vogel’s Literary Award (2017) and was developed through a fellowship at Varuna, the National Writers’ House. In this blog post, David Allan-Petale invites you along for the journey.

It takes a village to raise a book (an ode to the Perth writing community) by novelist Mel Hall

Described as ‘thoughtful’, ‘delightfully subversive’ and ‘tenderly insightful’, The Little Boat on Trusting Lane by Mel Hall is a novel about how human connection, community and friendship have the potential to heal. In this piece, she describes how the Perth writing community helped her bring her debut novel into being.

CEO Jane Fraser shares the latest news on awards and international rights sales

I hope all of you have been enjoying a lovely holiday weekend. Thanks for tuning in to help me digest my chocolate eggs and to reflect on the month that was.

What pledge are you making for International Women’s Day 2021?

International Women’s Day is on 8 March and all genders are encouraged by IWD to participate in this year’s #ChooseToChallenge theme. To participate, consider the question ‘What action can I take to help forge a more gender equal world?’ and share your pledge along with a photo of yourself striking this year’s Choose to Challenge pose.

CEO Jane Fraser shares Fremantle Press’s plans for 2021

We have been so lucky in WA. We began 2021 with such optimism. Our hard border was softening, and with such a long run without any community coronavirus infections, the new year promised a return to some kind of normalcy.

Women of a Certain Rage contributor Goldie Goldbloom says women everywhere have many of the same concerns and fears for the future

Women of a Certain Rage is the book that happened when Liz Byrski asked 20 women to take up her challenge and write her a story about rage. The result is a book that Judith Lucy calls ‘compassionate, absorbing and thought-provoking’.

CEO Jane Fraser writes in praise of the artistry, commitment, guts and gumption of three wonderful Fremantle Press creators

Hello and welcome to December. In what’s been a tough year for so many, we are very happy to report some good news this month. Congratulations are in order for three wonderful Fremantle Press creators.

Fremantle Press publisher Georgia Richter shares her 3 am brain explosions and wrestles with the question: how do etymologists sleep at night?

The roar on the other side of silence

‘If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life,’ George Eliot wrote in Middlemarch, ‘it would be like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel's heart beat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence.’

It took academic turned library officer turned writer Rebecca Higgie 12 years to write her award-winning young adult novel The History of Mischief: a book for book lovers of all ages that won the inaugural Fogarty Literary Award for Western Australian writers aged 18 to 35

In this interview Rebecca talks about the histories behind the history and how these might be used to stimulate classroom discussions, research and writing activities.

CEO Jane Fraser on Kim Scott's literary contribution to Western Australia, which saw him being inducted into the Western Australian Writers Hall of Fame last Friday evening

Hello and welcome to August.

What a month it’s been! Congratulations to our Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards winners and shortlisted authors: Fiona Burrows, Amanda Curtin, Rafeif Ismail, Kathryn Lefroy, Caitlin Maling, Meg McKinlay, Helen Milroy, Holden Sheppard and Ellen van Neerven. We are so proud of you all.